Delta and Coke thought these flirtatious napkins were clever. But that idea fizzled

After handing out Coca-Cola napkins suggesting passengers give their name and number to their "plane crush," both companies are apologizing.

Posted: Feb. 7, 2019 1:48 PM

Updated: Feb. 7, 2019 2:30 PM

Posted By: CNN

Maybe Delta should stick to flying planes instead of playing matchmaker.

After handing out Coca-Cola napkins suggesting passengers give their name and number to their 'plane crush,' both companies are apologizing.

It started with 33 words on napkins advertising Diet Coke:

'because you're on a plane of full of interesting people and hey ... you never know,' the front teases.

The back nudges further, emitting a shocking amount of peer pressure from a paper square:

'be a little old school. write down your number & give it to your plane crush. you never know ...'

Some passengers, like Terry Pendergist, thought the napkins were 'Pretty funny.'

But others said they were creepy and unwelcome.

'Pretty sure no one appreciated unsolicited phone numbers in the 'good old days' and they sure as heck don't want the number of someone who has been gawking at them on a plane for hours today,' another passenger tweeted.

Ultimately the Diet Coke ad fell flat, and the company offered a mea culpa.

'We sincerely apologize to anyone we may have offended,' The Coca-Cola Company said Thursday.

'We worked with our partners at Delta to begin removing the napkins last month and are replacing them with other designs.'

Delta also said the campaign didn't really take off.

'We rotate Coke products regularly on our aircraft as part of our brand partnership, but missed the mark with this one,' the airline said. 'We are sorry for that.'